Understanding the Kingdom of God
Gospel Reflection for Friday, February 21st, 2025
It is interesting that the lectionary for the daily readings breaks up today’s gospel reading from yesterday’s reading. A good method to remember for biblical exegesis when trying to understand a particular passage is read what comes before it and read what comes after it. In yesterday’s gospel, we have Peter’s confession, Jesus’ first foretelling of his passion, and Jesus’ rebuke of Peter. What is interesting in the synoptic tradition, in the more detailed accounts of the temptation of Jesus in both Matthew and Luke, the rebuke of Peter is connected to a key feature of Jesus’ preaching—the kingdom of God—which is what we find in today’s gospel reading. Jesus’ rebuke is tied to the correct understanding of what He means by the Kingdom of God (or in Luke’s tradition; the Kingdom of Heaven).
33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter, and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men.” [1]
Naturally, a good way to understand what is the Kingdom of God is explaining what it is not according to Jesus’ preaching. Pope Benedict XVI in his first volume of his series Jesus of Nazareth devotes an entire chapter to the preaching of the Kingdom. Benedict explains the importance of preaching because in the synoptic gospels alone the phrase is mentioned 99 times. So, it’s important to understand Jesus’ message, so as not to be the recipient of “Get behind me, Satan.”
The third temptation in Matthew’s gospel is the temptation of power and it is intimately connected to Peter’s rebuke:
9 “and he said to him, “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” 10 At this, Jesus said to him, “Get away, Satan!”[2]
Pope Benedict explains that modernity’s understanding of preaching of the Kingdom of God is what he calls regnocentrism. It is the idea of all the world’s religions coming together in brotherhood and building a world governed by peace, justice, and a concern of conservation. The problem though is who decided what any of those actually mean? Pope Benedict explains, “Jesus, however, repeats to us what he said in reply to Satan, what he said to Peter, and what he explained further to the disciples of Emmaus: No kingdom of this world is the Kingdom of God.”[3]
Peter’s view is still a sort of worldly view with an established kingdom of Israel who will throw off its Roman oppressors; but again, this view shares similarities with the third temptation which is why it receives a similar reply from Jesus. The understanding of yesterday’s gospel allows us to understand that to become a citizen of the Kingdom of God—to become one of His disciples then one must reject the temptations of the world; the temptations that Jesus faced Himself in the desert.
Jesus begins this portion of the passage by saying:
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.”[4]
And our Lord ends it by saying:
“Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come in power.”[5]
The coming of the kingdom isn’t wielding enough power and influence to create heaven on earth. The coming of the kingdom is the sovereignty of God coming in the person of Jesus who acts in the world for the sake of our salvation—to live in divine friendship with God.
Let us be careful in our understanding that we must desire and proclaim heavenly bread over earthly bread, while still doing our best to offer charity to those who are in need. The importance is remembering that in our faith both spiritual and natural needs are part of our mission.
[1] The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006), Mk 8:33.
[2] New American Bible, Revised Edition. (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011), Mt 4:9–10.
[3] Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth Vol. I (pp. 43-44). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
[4] New American Bible, Revised Edition. (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011), Mk 8:34–35.
[5] New American Bible, Revised Edition. (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011), Mk 9:1.
Human Understanding of the Kingdom of God, like understanding of our unfathomable God, is not only light years distant from human capability but is a pursuit that is always steeped in pride. What is available to each of us from the most astute to the least is the knowledge of God which arises from within our communion of intimacy with Him. it is true knowledge of God, not understanding of Him, that is available to all of our faithful who present themselves to Him in a manner consistent with his unspeakable majesty and Lordship, doing so in a state of consummate and destitute, especially spiritually destitute personal vulnerability to Him. This must include an unqualified surrender of not only all aspects of one's physical life and "spiritual" life, but must include the unqualified and sustained surrender to God of those convictions of which we feel we are most certain. In genuine communion with God, all of these must be incessantly at risk to the "vision" of God He provides us within our mutual union. It is not the eagerness of our God for intimacy with each one of us that ever fails us in the initiation and establishment of communion with us. It is our truly pitiful expectations of His insatiable desire to embrace us in this manner that most consistently defeats us.. When we become determined in our sustained attendance to God alone, for His sake alone while allowing His incessant attendance to us in any manner He chooses, we become participants in our unique destiny of Sainthood while we are yet here on earth.
Notice that Jesus does not rebuke the disciples when they ask if He will restore again the kingdom to Israel in Acts 1:6. God has plans for Israel that are not other-worldly. See Romans 11.